Iwo Jima Website Dedication
This site is dedicated to Ralph Ignatowski. Ralph was tortured to death on Iwo Jima. He was pulled into an underground cave and endured three days of slow torture. His body was tossed out and found by his buddies on March 8, 1945.
Ralph could have avoided military service. When he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943 he flunked the physical. Later he brought a friend’s urine in as his own so he could fight for his country.
Ralph Ignatowski was a best friend of Flag Raiser John Bradley. He is buried in the Rock Island, IL. National Military Cemetery.
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My Dad, Billy Ray Richardson was sixteen when he entered the service in 1942. He went to Iwo Jima and while on the beach, his best friend was shot through the abdomen. My Dad tried to put his guts back in, but his friend died before a medic could get to hm. After several days of intense fighting, my Dad was injuried. He was taken back to a U boat and had to stay there until the battle was over many days later. He had gangrene started in his arm wound by the time he was sent to Guam. He didn’t lose his arm and received a Purple Heart. He rarely ever talked about his experience there at the battle of Iwo Jima but it haunted him for the rest of his life. He passed away at the age of 40 in 1966.
while with the 3rd marine div. in 1955 we made a landing on iwo 10 years to the day of the first invasion. Terrible place, God bless those Marines. Pillboxes galore,I don’t know how anyone got off that island alive. Sempire Fi.